Exiled Villainess: They Threw Me Out, Now Every Beastman Wants Me novel Chapter 44

Chapter 44: Running On Fumes

A number of seeds had been uprooted, and the tubers were scattered across the dirt like someone had yanked them out and tossed them aside.

Tera’s blood went cold, and then very, very hot.

Someone had done this on purpose.

She looked around the clearing. The early risers were already up, and they stopped short upon seeing the mess.

Tera, however, had noticed the mysterious smile on Kiri’s face before it had been wiped off. She had also realised that this particular female was not pregnant like the rest, and she had been the same one she had noticed buddying up against Ermin. Tera had decided not to focus on that, even though it had bothered her a bit.

It was a bit of a relief that Ermin barely gave that pesky fox the time of day, but now Tera was realising that Kiri was going to be a problem.

Their eyes met.

Kiri didn’t flinch or look away. She just held Tera’s gaze with a calm, steady expression that said, very clearly, ’prove it.’

This gave Tera a terrible dilemma. She couldn’t accuse Kiri without proof, and she had already learned an earlier lesson with the clan confrontation. Most liked her now, but there were still some who were disgruntled.

And even those who liked her were not too happy about the workload. Even so, Kiri had been with them longer, and her throwing accusations without evidence only made Tera look like the villain.

The clan members had already discussed getting to the bottom of this matter, but were confused as to why someone would damage the crops that had just started to grow.

To solve this issue, Tera had suggested posting a watch.

Four beast men would rotate shifts by watching the farmland through the night. It was a simple solution, and when she explained it to Xavi, he approved immediately.

But it had taken extra effort to put everything back together, and Tera had made sure Kiri did a large portion of it, much to the fox’s annoyance.

Towards the end of the second week, and a third shelter in progress, Tera was running on fumes. She could feel the exhaustion stacking, one layer on top of another, like bricks being placed on her shoulders.

This was starting to feel like she was back on site again.

Why couldn’t she have gotten some break in this new world?

Her mind was constantly running. Calculating timelines, adjusting plans, troubleshooting problems, watching for sabotage, watching Ermin, watching Xavi, watching Kiri, watching the sky for signs of rain.

Her body was frustratingly weak compared to the other beasts around her, but she could feel small improvements. Her agility had ticked up. So had her strength, barely.

But it didn’t feel like enough.

The system had started pinging her with alerts she didn’t want to see.

[Warning: Host’s stress levels are elevated] 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

[Physical fatigue: High]

[Mental fatigue: Critical]

[(ᗒᗩᗕ)]

[This system is genuinely worried]

’I do not have time to be tired.’

She was hoping to just construct a third shelter, and the females and cubs could sleep in them while they took a break in the third week.

At times, Tera felt guilty that she might be overworking the clan, but no one had complained so much.

[This system has seen Host stumble three times today]

[One of those times, Host walked into a tree!]

’The tree was in my way.’

’What message does he think will translate to the others when they all work and I barely do anything?’

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